Installing Off-Site Watering Setup

[OregonSolar]

Sorry about that
I tried
You can't even get a 1 knot flow even if you restricted a portion?
And by one knot I mean 6000 feet an hour past a wheel?
Just trying to think outside the solar box

I applaud the effort, but still, no go.
The problem with any kind of hydropower setup is that the whole point of off-site watering is to keep impact to the stream at a minimal level. Diverting the stream for a wheel or any other setup would TOTALLY defeat exactly the thing you're trying to accomplish!

[Naptown]

Sorry about that
I tried
You can't even get a 1 knot flow even if you restricted a portion?
And by one knot I mean 6000 feet an hour past a wheel?
Just trying to think outside the solar box

[OregonSolar]

Another thought
Do the streams run with any kind of velocity or just very slow
If you have any kind of flow perhaps you could use the stream to power a pump
Just like in the old days of water mills

Not going to happen. No usable head, no real flow, the streams are practically stagnant from a hydropower point-of-view.

From any way I look at it, each system is going to be upwards of at least $1,200+. I'm sending an email to my boss right now. *shudders of the thought of inbox in the morning *

[Naptown]

Another thought
Do the streams run with any kind of velocity or just very slow
If you have any kind of flow perhaps you could use the stream to power a pump
Just like in the old days of water mills

[OregonSolar]

Dump the battery
Run directly from solar with a panel. Twice the watts a pump will take There is another device who's name escapes me at the moment that will run the pump.
Plan on getting the pumping done during the sun hour time.
12 hours is too long figure use more like 5 depending on the location which is critical to know

The only problem with that is storage. Ideally there are two 350 gallon stock tanks out there. The original plan was to use solar panels to charge some batteries, which would run the pump when a float in the tanks called for water. You see, for some reason the contractor wants NO overflow, hence the battery design. To run an 8 GPM pump for 5 hrs would require an extra 1500 gallon storage tank that would drain into the stock tanks using a float. This is out of the question, considering a 1500 gallon poly tank costs $800+.

[Naptown]

Dump the battery
Run directly from solar with a panel. Twice the watts a pump will take There is another device who's name escapes me at the moment that will run the pump.
Plan on getting the pumping done during the sun hour time.
12 hours is too long figure use more like 5 depending on the location which is critical to know

[OregonSolar]

If it makes you feel any better you fall into the 98% of folks who undersize their systems as they did not allow for enough solar or battery etc to make it viable.
Not picking on you it's the laws of physics that cannot be broken.

Ok, well if I scrap the battery I 'may' be able to get it to work, but only 'maybe'. 648 gallons a day isn't enough for 75 cows, only 20 cows if you push it.

I may just have to eat it, suck it up to the boss and get a punch in the face. Oh well, so goes life.

[SunEagle]

No way you are going to do this for $500
Well you could but they will probably fail.

Well sure he can do it for $500 each. Then in a year do it again and then again and then ....

[Naptown]

So no matter what I do, I actually need this amount of panels and batteries.

So much for my contract.... I was basing it off of a $500-600 dollar a piece system with a 250 watt panel and about a 100Ah battery. This really throws it all for a loop.

If it makes you feel any better you fall into the 98% of folks who undersize their systems as they did not allow for enough solar or battery etc to make it viable.
Not picking on you it's the laws of physics that cannot be broken.

[Naptown]

No way you are going to do this for $500
Well you could but they will probably fail.

[OregonSolar]

If you discharge your battery more than 20% you run the risk of weakening it and then require replacing it sooner. Same goes for a smaller pv panel system. If you don't have enough solar watts to charge the battery you will end up shortening its life and have to replace it sooner. The battery is an expensive item and replacing it before a normal lifetime will be costly.

It is sort of a pay me now or pay me later.

So no matter what I do, I actually need this amount of panels and batteries.

So much for my contract.... I was basing it off of a $500-600 dollar a piece system with a 250 watt panel and about a 100Ah battery. This really throws it all for a loop.

[SunEagle]

Yes I did. I am not on the coast, I'm about 150 miles inland, and our summers are CLOUDLESS, period, minus our average 2 thunderstorms a year. Assuming our average summer insolation is 6 hrs, and the pump needs to run 12hrs a day to supply enough water for 75 cows at 8 amps, it still says a 570 watt solar array and a 475Ah battery bank at 24V. That is outrageous! There is NO WAY IN H3LL my contractor is going to pay that much for 10 off-site water systems with those specs. Nor does it sound necessary, and that much equipment sitting in a field is crazy. Is there something I'm doing wrong here?

EDIT: That is also at 20% DOD. If I could get away with 35% how much would it affect the numbers?

If you discharge your battery more than 20% you run the risk of weakening it and then require replacing it sooner. Same goes for a smaller pv panel system. If you don't have enough solar watts to charge the battery you will end up shortening its life and have to replace it sooner. The battery is an expensive item and replacing it before a normal lifetime will be costly.

It is sort of a pay me now or pay me later.

[OregonSolar]

2 things
That does not take into account for daytime running only
Did you put your local insolation in correctly for the months it will be in use.
Oregon on the coast can be pretty cloudy.

Yes I did. I am not on the coast, I'm about 150 miles inland, and our summers are CLOUDLESS, period, minus our average 2 thunderstorms a year. Assuming our average summer insolation is 6 hrs, and the pump needs to run 12hrs a day to supply enough water for 75 cows at 8 amps, it still says a 570 watt solar array and a 475Ah battery bank at 24V. That is outrageous! There is NO WAY IN H3LL my contractor is going to pay that much for 10 off-site water systems with those specs. Nor does it sound necessary, and that much equipment sitting in a field is crazy. Is there something I'm doing wrong here?

EDIT: That is also at 20% DOD. If I could get away with 35% how much would it affect the numbers?

[Naptown]

2 things
That does not take into account for daytime running only
Did you put your local insolation in correctly for the months it will be in use.
Oregon on the coast can be pretty cloudy.

[OregonSolar]

Then go to the off grid battery design stickie and do the calculator there.
I will point out that 8 hours anywhere in North America isn't happening.
Since this is more of a summer thing use the month it will operate that has the lowest insolation when operating
Cut battery size in half perhaps depending on what you need for a charge rate.
Or just post the spreadsheet for comment

Woah woah woah!!! I used the calculator and that REALLY doesn't sound right. A 750Ah battery bank and a 1KW solar array just to run a little 200 watt pump for 12hrs? What doesn't add up here? Even if I put the inverter efficiency at 1 because there is no inverter, that's still 800 watts of panels! This is something wrong here...